Diamond Graphics Studios is located in the heart of the jewelry district in downtown Los angeles California 90014. Diamond Graphics Studios employs a highly talented technical staff that effectively uses cutting-edge technologies to provide the highest quality products in the industry. With a reputation for honesty, quality and timely delivery, Diamond Graphics Studios has attracted some of the largest and oldest clients in the jewelry industry from around the world. Clients such as Garrard, London based jeweler since the year 1722 and jeweler to the British Royal family since 1846.De Beers LTD, a company jointly by the De Beers Group & French luxury goods company LVMH, (Moet Hennessy Luois Vuitton).Asprey, purveyor of British Luxury Goods since 1781, along with many other reputable companies throughout the entire United States, Canada and Europe. Diamond Graphics Studios is always on the forefront of technology & developing new techniques to provide excellence to it's customers. Let Diamond Graphics Studios maximize your company's marketing strategies for a brighter financial future.

Jewelry Photography Education

Tips: Key basic points

Jewelry Photography - Aperture

Aperture is referred to the lens diaphragm opening inside a photographic lens. The size of the diaphragm opening in a camera lens REGULATES the amount of light that passes through onto the film or chip inside the camera the moment when the shutter curtain in the camera opens during an exposure. The size of an aperture in a lens can either be a fixed or the most popular form in an adjustable type (like an SLR camera). Aperture size is usually calibrated in f-numbers or f-stops. i.e. those little numbers engraved on the lens barrel like f22 (f/22),16 (f/16), f/11, f/8.0, f/5.6, f/4.0, f/2.8, f/2.0, f/1.8 etc. Each of this value represents one time the amount of light either more or less in quantity. Meaning to say, f/16 will let in 1X the amount of light than a diaphragm opening of f/22 and so forth; while on the other hand, an aperture of f/4.0 will let in 1X lesser than that of f/2.8 etc.

In Jewelry photography or small product photography the Aperture is extremely important when trying to capture the fine details of diamonds and gemstones. The amount of light passing through the diaphragm is important to ensure a well exposed photo but Aperture plays two other very important roles when photographing jewelry. The first is the depth of field. It is some times considered artistic if you photograph jewelry with a very large Aperture or low f-stop number giving you a very short field of focus, eg., (f-2.0, 2.8 etc). Capturing only a small portion of the jewelry item in focus and leaving the rest out of focus. The higher the f-stop number or smaller the Aperture opening, the more depth of field you will get, keeping more of your jewelry item in focus. Keeping more of the jewelry item in focus can be a good idea when the end use of the photo is unknown. A good graphic designer or photo editor can blur out portions of the jewelry at a later time if needed. The second very important part the Aperture plays in photographing jewelry, that is not as widely known or ever really explained in educational photography books etc., is that the larger the Aperture or smaller the f-stop number the sharper the image will get. It is important to understand were the sweet spot is for you as the larger the Aperture or smaller the f-stop number the lower the depth of field is, thus less of your jewelry item is in focus. You must experiment to find just the right combination for your work.

Jewelry Photography -Shutter Speed

The aperture diaphragm of a lens (bigger or smaller) and timing (open and close) of the camera's shutter curtain - BOTH perform the tasks of regulating the amount of light entering the camera and exposure onto the film or imaging sensor. The shutter speed scales engraved on the shutter speed dial of conventional camera bodies with a shutter speed ring or on the LCD screen like: 1/8000, 1/4000, 1/1000, 1/500, 1/250, 1/125, 1/60, 1/30, 1/15, 1/8, 1/4, 1/2, 1 or -1, -2 etc. are essentially indicators of the duration (timing) at which the shutter curtain opens up and closes during an exposure process. A 1/125 setting means the shutter curtain open and close within one hundred and twenty five of a second while 1 means an one full-second the shutter opens up during exposure to absorb the available light source onto the film or imaging sensor to form an exposure.

In Jewelry photography shutter speed is extremely important when trying to freeze your subject to ensure a crisp sharp image. Small movements with a slow shutter speed can cause yo u to have a blurry photograph. It is important to make sure you have at least 1/125th of a second for your shutter speed in order to freeze any subject. The faster the shutter speed the less the light can pass through the diaphragm but the higher speeds enable you to freeze your photo so that small movements will not blur your exposure. This especially helps in jewelry photography when hanging a pendant by a chain to capture the natural hanging position. Any slight movement will make the chain sway back and forth. If you have a shutter speed of no less then 1/125th of a second then you will freeze any motion and still have a sharp exposure. The issue of less light passing through the diaphragm gets taken care of by turning up the power on your strobe lighting to make sure there is enough light to manage the fast shutter speeds. Without good quality high powered strobe lighting jewelry photography can be very difficult to do.